4 Tips for Developing A Health-Centric Blog

Every successful blog needs a niche, and one of the hottest markets right now is health and wellness – think Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, the Wellness Mama blog, and everything in between. And not only is wellness on trend right now, but it’s also a broad category, leaving you plenty of leeway to develop your own identity as a brand. If you’re interested in moving into the health blogosphere, then, you need to find what makes you unique. You also need a solid profit stream that will support your site.

Choose A Style

One of the most important things you can do in order to carve out a niche in the wellness world is to be clear about what kind of writing you want to do. Are you writing for a consumer audience, doing more technical work, or providing health literacy resources? These are all unique projects, requiring different skill sets, and serving different populations. Writing for peers who share a health condition is very different than evaluating healthcare markets and regulatory changes.

Follow The Trends

Once you know what type of work you want to do, it’s time to start researching. The most successful wellness blogs are those that know how to stay on top of trends and can get ahead of the market. And, best of all, this research can be a lot of fun. Listen to health and fitness podcasts, peruse the shelves at your favorite natural food stores, and read industry publications.

If you’re in a product-focused niche, you’ll also have an opportunity to try lots of new foods, supplements, and even restaurants. Those working on wellness and food right now, for example, should definitely be checking out products like oat milk and moringa. Wellness blogs also play a strong role in promoting sustainable living, so stock up on those reusable straws and plastic-free packaging.

Join With An Affiliate

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make a profit when running a health and wellness blog, so you’ll want to find good-fit programs to support your site. Affiliate marketing programs like the one run by Natural Healthy Concepts are perfect for wellness sites that focus on natural supplements and herbal support, while natural grocery sites can be a good fit for food-focused sites.

More technical and medically-focused wellness sites may have a harder time finding a suitable affiliate program, since the goal of affiliate marketing is to use your website as an advertising platform and, in return, earn a percentage from facilitated sales. If you attend enough conferences and network within your niche, though, you’re sure to find suitable opportunities for affiliate marketing opportunities. Everyone needs to advertise, after all.

Play To Your Strengths

Finally, when starting a wellness blog, your goal should be to play to your strengths. What do you know a lot about and how can you leverage that knowledge to build an audience? When Alexis Joseph started her wellness blog Hummusapien, for example, she made her background as a licensed dietician a selling point. While you may not have a degree to support your blog aspirations, you experience as a patient, as a parent, or as a foodie can all be tools for selling your blog.

One of the great things about running a health and wellness blog is that, while the topic is hot right now, it never goes out of fashion. Everyone has to eat and take care of their bodies, but what we eat and how we think about wellness is always changing. If you can stake a claim as an authority on these topics, then, you’ll find you have followers for years to come.